VectorLinux is one of those useful but lesser-known Linux distros. It's
been around since 1999 and I've used it since 2006, off and on, in the
role of a secondary OS. Now, with the disruptive changes
Ubuntu forces on its user base with each new release, I've found myself
increasingly attracted to Vector's stability and convenience. This
article introduces "VL" to those who may not be familiar with it.

The article (and the review it points to) are really interesting. Turning "waste PCs" into productive parts of the society again. However, I'm interested in how good the language support is. German language is mandatory for cases where I would use this Linux distro. The article does not mention anything about foreign (non-english) languages, and the review mentions English, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish in a picture. Is there a way to make this Linux installable and usable by german users?

The second thing I'm a bit sceptical is the multimedia support. "Multimedia that runs right out of the box" sounds nice, but does this cover things like all the strange "Windows" formats, stuff like MP3 and OGG/Vorbis, non-mainstream formats like Matroska, up to "Flash"? I know a full-featured {k|g|s}mplayer can play them all (because mplayer can play everything), but has this been selected for the packages part of the distro? I assume there could be licensing problems because it's illegal to listen to MP3 in the US. The review is a bit more elaborate (mentioning VLC), but of course it doesn't cover all cases "typical users" would encounter today. And in case this Linux is run on hardware with lower power (e. g. P4, ~1.2 GHz with 16 MB GPU, because that's what the article's "A distro for older hardware" could be supposed to mean), how well does "Flash" or fullscreen video perform?

Anyway, I'm giving this Linux a try, because it sounds promising. Thanks for the article, it's an inspiration to try something new.